Gleyber Torres is trying to have his cake and eat it too.
The Yankees infielder was asked his thoughts on Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Cody Bellinger saying his friend and compatriot Jose Altuve robbed his teammate Aaron Judge of the American League MVP award in 2017, the year the Houston Astros were at the height of their sign-stealing operation.
Torres defended Altuve’s 2017 production while saying what the Astros did not “feel very good.”
“In Venezuela, Altuve is a hero,” Torres told ESPN’s Marly Rivera. “I don’t want to say that during the (2017) regular season, he didn’t put up his numbers or what he did is not real. I really believe that everything he has done is legal. But in some situations, I think about what the team did, and the use of a camera and everything, and it doesn’t really feel very good.”
In other words: the Astros cheated, but Altuve’s numbers are legit and he earned the AL MVP.
Something does not add up there.
Torres is in a tough spot here, with a personal friendship playing a role in him holding back, and he admitted as much.
“For me, it’s hard to see that,” Torres said, per NJ Advance Media’s Brendan Kuty. “I don’t want to say something exactly to Altuve because of the relationship, we’re from the same county. But if he does all the stuff he does, it’s not fair.”
Bellinger did not have any personal feelings in his way, and he let it fly.
“I thought (Rob) Manfred’s punishment was weak, giving (Astros players) immunity,” the 2019 National League MVP said last week. “I mean these guys were cheating for three years. I think what people don’t realize is Altuve stole an MVP from Judge in ’17. Everyone knows they stole the ring from us.”
Altuve finished with 27 first-place votes in AL MVP voting after leading the majors with a .346 batting average and 8.3 WAR in 2017. Judge came in a distant second with just two first-place votes, but was named American League Rookie of the Year after slugging 52 home runs. Judge’s 8.1 WAR in 2017 was second-best in the majors.
Judge and the Yankees pushed Altuve and the Astros to the limit in the 2017 American League Championship Series. But Houston won Game 7 at home and went on to beat the Dodgers in the World Series, also in seven games, all while using illegal methods.
(NJ Advance Media’s Mike Rosenstein contributed to this report.)
Brian Fonseca may be reached at bfonseca@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @briannnnf. Find NJ.com on Facebook.